Military Civilian Grade 7 Admin cheat sheet

Correspondence control cycle: receive, date-stamp, log, route, track, close, and file; each step leaves an auditable trace in the register.

Task-tracking rule: any action item assigned in a meeting is written with owner, due date, and closure criterion; items without all three are not tracked.

Records disposition authority: routine administrative files follow the approved retention schedule; destruction requires documented authority and a witness for sensitive series.

Time-management triage: urgent-and-important items are handled personally; urgent-but-not-important items are delegated with a suspense date.

Office supply reorder point = (average daily use x lead time in days) + safety stock; reorder before the point, not at stockout.

Meeting minutes become official only after approval at the next session; draft minutes are marked DRAFT and are not citable as decisions.

Visitor and badge control: log name, organization, time in/out, and escort; unescorted access requires a validated clearance level.

Space and equipment inventories are reconciled annually against property records; discrepancies are reported, not silently corrected.

Position classification compares duties, responsibility level, and qualification requirements; the position, not the incumbent, is classified.

Staffing timeline: request validated against manpower document, vacancy announced, panel rated against criteria, selection approved, then appointment.

Performance appraisal cycle: standards set at start, mid-cycle progress review, annual rating, and documented counseling for below-standard performance.

Adverse action requires written notice, specific reasons, an opportunity to respond, and a decision by an official above the proposing level.

Leave accounting: annual leave accrues by pay period and carries a maximum balance; use-or-lose excess is forfeited absent approved restoration.

Grievance steps run on fixed clocks; missing a filing deadline generally forfeits the grievance unless an extension is granted in writing.

Employee relations rule: disciplinary documentation goes in the official personnel file only after the employee receives a copy and acknowledges or declines to sign.

Manning calculation: authorized positions minus vacancies minus long-term absences yields effective strength available for tasking.

Appropriation phases: commitment (obligation anticipated), obligation (binding agreement), expenditure (goods/services received), outlay (payment made).

Anti-deficiency rule: no obligation may exceed the amount available in the applicable appropriation; over-obligation is a personal liability exposure.

Purpose, time, and amount are the three tests every proposed expenditure must pass before funds are committed.

Obligation rate = obligations incurred / funds available; a low rate late in the fiscal year signals execution risk, not savings.

Burn rate = expenditures to date / months elapsed; projected year-end spend = burn rate x 12, compared against the plan.

Bona fide need rule: funds are obligated for needs arising in the period of availability, not for future-year requirements.

Cost variance = actual cost - budgeted cost; a negative variance is favorable for cost, positive is unfavorable.

Unauthorized commitment: only warranted or delegated officials may bind funds; others must route requests through the contracting office.

Property accountability chain: requisition, receipt, inventory record, issue, transfer, and disposal; each transaction updates the accountable record.

Sensitive and controlled items require serial-number tracking and periodic 100 percent inventory, not sampling.

Supply priority drivers: mission urgency, stockage objective, and lead time; expedited transport is justified only when stockout risk exceeds transport cost.

Economic order quantity balances ordering cost against holding cost; ordering more than demand consumes storage and ties up funds.

Inventory discrepancy: report immediately, initiate a report of survey or adjustment, and do not alter the record before the investigation concludes.

Maintenance categories: preventive (scheduled), corrective (failure-driven), and calibration; preventive intervals come from the technical manual.

Disposal requires demilitarization or approved transfer; items with residual value go to reutilization before scrap.

Fuel and hazardous material storage: segregation by compatibility class, secondary containment, and posted maximum quantities.

Standard military memorandum format: heading (organization, office symbol, date), MEMORANDUM FOR line, SUBJECT line, body, signature block, and attachments listed.

BLUF rule: the purpose or recommendation appears in the first paragraph; supporting detail follows in descending importance.

Active voice and second person for directives; passive voice obscures who is accountable for the action.

Subject line states the topic and the action; it is not a sentence and carries no period.

Classification markings appear at top and bottom of every page and on the outside of the envelope or cover.

Staff action routing: action officer drafts, division chief reviews, coordinating offices concur or nonconcur with comments, releasing official signs.

Use numerals for measurements and dates, spell out numbers beginning a sentence; be consistent within a document.

Coordination record: concurrence is documented by name and date; verbal concurrence is confirmed in writing before release.

Chain of command: orders flow down through the commanding officer; requests flow up through the same channel unless a regulation authorizes direct reporting.

Staff functions are advisory and coordinating; line functions carry authority to direct execution of the mission.

Regulation hierarchy: statute, then department-level directive, then component instruction; a lower document conflicting with a higher one is unenforceable.

A directive states who, what, when, and the authority; it is superseded only by a later directive or an approved waiver.

Span of control: effective supervision typically covers 3 to 8 subordinates depending on task complexity and geographic dispersion.

Delegation transfers authority, not accountability; the delegating official remains answerable for the outcome.

Policy change requires staffing, legal or regulatory review, approval at the appropriate level, and publication before it takes effect.

Inspection readiness: current directives, training records, and property accountability are the most frequently audited areas.

Record vs nonrecord: a record documents official business and is retained per schedule; convenience copies and drafts are nonrecords.

Records life cycle: creation, maintenance and use, disposition (transfer to archive or destruction).

Retention schedule identifies series, retention period, and disposition authority; unscheduled records are never destroyed without approval.

Metadata required for a record typically includes creator, date, title, series, and access restriction.

Access control principle: least privilege plus need-to-know; permissions are reviewed when duties change or on separation.

Backup differs from archive: backup restores operations after loss; archiving preserves records for their full retention.

PII handling: encrypt in transit and at rest, limit collection to mission need, and report suspected breach within the prescribed reporting clock.

Audit trail requirement: system changes to personnel, financial, or property data must be attributable to a named user and time-stamped.

Situational leadership: directive style fits new or low-experience members; delegating style fits proven, high-competence members.

Feedback model: describe the observed behavior, its impact, and the expected standard, then confirm understanding.

Counseling documentation includes date, subject, observed performance, standard, plan of action, and both signatures.

Task assignment is complete only when the member can restate the task, the deadline, and the reporting requirement.

Conflict resolution sequence: private discussion, facilitated meeting, formal chain-of-command intervention, then administrative action.

Team development stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning; interventions differ by stage.

Accountability rule: the supervisor verifies completion rather than accepting assurance; verification method is stated at assignment.

Recognition is most effective when specific, timely, and tied to a stated standard rather than general praise.